In Moscow for Lyubimovka

In Moscow for Lyubimovka

Lyubimovka Poster

This month, Breaking String Theater Artistic Director Graham Schmidt will be visiting the Lyubimovka Playwriting Festival in Moscow, Russia (September 3 - 9). The incredible renaissance of Russian drama over the past decade counts Lyubimovka as one of its most important crucibles - an annual gathering featuring several dozen staged readings of new plays by emerging playwrights, seminars, workshops, and animated discussion of new plays and the role of theater in contemporary society.

While in Moscow (and St. Petersburg), Graham will work with Masha Kroupnik, a Moscow-based project manager, translator, and media specialist who visited Austin as part of the Center for International Theatre Development's Beyond the Capitals Project. Graham and Masha have developed an exciting schedule of meetings with key figures in Moscow's theater community. The object of these meetings and exposure to Moscow's theater community is to gather a coherent picture of this crucial moment in the life of the Russian theater community. 

Since thousands took to the streets on December 4th, 2011, Russian society has been in a state of upheaval, and the theater community has reflected this spirit of protest and striving for freedom. There is no better place to understand the current trends in Russian theatre than Lyubimovka, which takes place at Theater.Doc - a laboratory for artistic experimentation and one of the epicenters of progressive performing art in Russia. 

This work would not be possible without support from the the Moscow US Embassy's American Seasons program (under the auspices of the US-Russia Bi-Lateral Presidential Commission) and the Center for International Theater Development.

Over the course of the next month, Graham will be filing dispatches from Moscow on the Breaking Blog, and his reviews and impressions will appear in other publications, as well. Looking forward to being in touch with you all, from Moscow.